Local roller derby team bonding and bashing

Team marks first anniversary this weekend

photos by Patrick Dove/Standard-Times Laura "Spank-N-Bury" Hardy shakes hands with the Abilene Derby Dames after a bout in June at the Abilene Convention Center. Hardy is a member of the San Angelo Soul Sisters, a flat track roller derby league that will celebrate its one-year anniversary this weekend.

Patrick Dove/Standard-Times Coach and team captain Sylvia "Hep Cat" Thompson shouts plays from the bench during a recent roller derby bout in San Antonio.

Patrick Dove

Kristin "Richard Vixen" Montes (center) makes her way through the pack to score points for the San Angelo Soul Sisters during a recent roller derby bout in Abilene.

Of note:The Knee High Knockouts will play an intrasquad scrimmage. After the bout, there will be a first-anniversary team celebration at Woofers and Tweeters, 3520 Knickerbocker Road

More info:sanangelorollerderby@hotmail.com or RollerDerbySanAngelo.com

Predominantly a female sport, roller derby was invented in the United States as a contact sport to be enjoyed as a form of entertainment.

Worldwide there are more than 1,000 women's leagues in 36 countries, in addition to male, coed and junior exposition teams.

Based on formation roller skating around a flat oval track, two teams appear to be in a race as they try to score the most points and earn the victory.

There are five players on both sides, as they skate around the rink and slam into one another.

Games are referred to as "bouts."

Scoring

The skater who is called the "jammer" must make it through a pack of skaters and pass all of her opponents to score.

If the jammer doesn't make it past the defenders, she doesn't light up the scoreboard. Jammers are the only players on the track who are eligible to score points.

Four "blockers," including one who counts as a "pivot," aim to knock opponents down so the jammer can get through the congestion. Every time the jammer passes by an opponent, she puts a point on the scoreboard.

While all of this is going on, the blockers try to make it more difficult for the jammer on the opposing team by knocking her down.

If the jammer is able to lap everyone, including the other team's jammer, it results in a grand slam and an extra point.

A jam is a two-minute period during which the jammers try to score points.

Playing the pivot

The blocker with the striped helmet at the starting line is the pivot. This player guides the speed of her blockers while keeping a close eye on her jammer and the opposing jammer.

The pivot will sometimes call for her team to go faster, making it tougher for the opponent's jammer to catch up to the pack and score before time runs out.

Since she is in the front of the pack, oftentimes the pivot is the final skater the jammer must pass, making her the team's last line of defense.

Bashing blockers

Playing behind the pivot, the players who are responsible for keeping the opposing jammer from passing them are called the blockers.

There are three blockers on each side, and they don't have any special markings such as stars or stripes on their helmets.

These players knock into each other to enable their jammer to get through.

Defensively, the blockers try to prevent the opposing jammer from skating past them and putting up points.

The blockers' goal is to line up in a "wall" so the opposing jammer can't get through.

When the blockers are on offense, they help their jammer make it through the opposing team's pack by pushing their jammer forward. By whipping the jammer around the track, the blockers can help their jammer pick up speed.

The knee-high socks are a dead giveaway.

When San Angeloans see Laura Hardy or her teammates wearing them around town, they know they're seeing roller derby players. And most of the time, they start asking questions.

For a little over a year, Hardy and about 25 other local women have been playing for the Knee High Knockouts of the San Angelo Soul Sisters roller derby league. The Knockouts, who will celebrate their one-year anniversary Saturday with an intrasquad scrimmage at Kirby Community Park, have felt the effects of the team's growth in popularity.

"Now, anywhere and everywhere I go, I'm being approached by people who are interested just as far as like a spectator point to want to watch it," Hardy said.

But many of the curious fans don't know much about the sport beyond stereotypes about how rough it can be.

"I'll have people say, 'Wow! So y'all are like clotheslining each other and punching each other in the face?' " Hardy said. "And I'm like, 'Not exactly.'

"A lot of times when people think about roller derby, they mainly think about the physical hitting part of it," Hardy said. "But when they come to practice or come to watch or just to get into it for the first time, they see a different side."

Hardy says people are usually impressed after they see what the sport has to offer.

"I think they're surprised at us," Hardy said. " They see how passionate we are about skating and each other and how we will help anybody."

The Knee High Knockouts sprang from a conversation over lunch between SASS league co-founders Sylvia Thompson and Sarah Calderon.

"We were at Lin's (Grand) Buffet one day, and she was telling me about how she wanted to start a roller derby team," Thompson said. "And I was like, 'You have got to be kidding me. I just can't get away from this sport.' I knew it was really important to her, so we just started one."

Thompson and Calderon had no idea that the roller derby team would become so popular in San Angelo.

"To be honest, my goal, when I got this started, was if I had five friends that would skate in a circle with me and got me in my skates, I would've been a happy girl," Calderon said. "It's grown so much so fast that we can hardly keep up with it. It's because I think these women respond well to this type of sport. It's kind of a therapy thing for us ladies."

The women on the team come from different backgrounds and social classes. They may be stay-at-home moms, business owners or students.

"We all came together and we're all one big family, and we pretty much leave everything behind when we're at practice," Calderon said.

Thompson and many of her teammates have played other sports, such as basketball and volleyball, but she says roller derby provides the women with unique opportunities.

"The sense of competition is different in roller derby than it is in any of those other sports," the 31-year-old Angelo State University nursing student said. "We hit each other. We skate really fast for long periods of time. We get hurt and it doesn't matter. It's a lot of fun."

Part of the fun is that most of the players have alter egos. Some of them wear crazy costumes and have an over-the-top mentality and attitude, somewhat akin to pro wrestlers.

"That's what it's about," Calderon said. "It's just cutting loose and playing hard and then having a beer afterwards and enjoying your friends."

The roller derby season typically runs from March to September. The Knockouts usually play about once a month, traveling to places such as Abilene, Midland and San Antonio.

After this weekend's intrasquad scrimmage, the Knockouts are scheduled to play on the road against Midland on Sept. 10. They also have a game scheduled for October in Abilene.

"It's actually not that difficult to find a game because there are a lot of leagues around this area," Thompson said.

Unlike in other sports where players typically try to master the nuances of a particular position, Hardy and Thompson says derby players learn every position.

"I think that in terms of skill level we've come a pretty long way," Thompson said. "We have video of our first scrimmages and stuff, and when we look back, it's kind of interesting to see what a few months and some experience can do to your game."

Thompson says some of her friends who aren't involved in roller derby think she's a little crazy to be involved in such a physical sport.

"They think we're nuts for voluntarily putting ourselves in a situation where we can get seriously injured," Thompson said. "It is dangerous and it's full contact, so we do the best we can to make sure that our ladies know how to fall properly and have the proper equipment to keep themselves as safe as they possibly can — knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmets, mouth guards."

Thompson suffered a broken arm during a bout in June, but that hasn't deterred her passion for the sport.

"It's a dangerous sport, but if you ask me if I'm going to continue playing, I would say, 'Absolutely,' " she said. "For the most part, you either are a derby girl or you aren't a derby girl, and you can usually tell pretty quickly if it's going to fit you or not."

Thompson said it hasn't been hard to sell the sport to fans in football-crazed Texas who like to see some hard-hitting action.

"We're lucky enough to be here in Texas," Thompson said. "Most people have at least heard about roller derby. They are more open to the idea of coming out to see crazy ladies skating around in short skirts and fishnets and beating each other and having a great time doing it."

HOW TO JOIN THE TEAM

San Angelo Soul Sisters roller derby league co-founder Sylvia Thompson says the Knee High Knockouts have an open-door policy for new team members and anyone else, male or female, who wants to help out with the team or league as a referee or scorekeeper.

And it doesn't matter if prospective players have any previous experience in the sport.

Players must be at least 21 years old to skate, but the team accepts players age 18 to 20 who want to learn the sport before they're old enough to compete.

"We have people who never skated before and we actually teach them how to skate," Thompson said. "We will accept anyone, anytime. You don't have to have any skating experience. You can be 90 pounds soaking wet or 350 pounds. We don't care, as long as you have the motivation to be part of the team and the patience to learn. We welcome you with open arms. "

Women who want to inquire can contact the team on Facebook or email the team at sanangelorollerderby@hotmail.com. The team website is RollerDerbySanAngelo.com.